Pulwama: On Thursday morning as the genial rays of winter sun touched the Indarwali village, some 27 km from south Kashmir’s Pulwama town, an online service van showed up in the village and pulled off the road.
Muffled up in several layers of clothing, the residents piled out of their homes as the driver honked the horn and queued up before the van to avail different online services.
“I applied for Ayushman Bharat Golden Card and updated the Adhaar card of my children,” said 35-year-old Shabir Ahmad Koli with a smile flickering across his face.
In absence of online mobile service, Koli had to travel at least 27 km to reach Pulwama to apply for the crucial document.
“I had been putting it off for last one year as I had to arrange a good amount to pay as fare to get to district headquarters,” he said.
The village, comprising of around 300 households, is inhabited by the marginalised Gujjar community, which usually does not have access to various government schemes.
“It is for the first time that we have access to the government schemes,” said Shameem Ahmad, who also applied for the Golden Card.
On October 20, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha inaugurated the mobile online services for doorstep delivery of various online schemes.
District Magistrate Pulwama Baseer-ul-Haq Chaudhary told Greater Kashmir that the van had travelled to around 150 to 200 villages since it’s inauguration in October and delivered online services at the doorsteps of the residents.
“In multiple outlying villages like Aripal Tral, Sangarwani, and Achagoosa of the district, we have provided the mobile online services,” Chaudhary said.
He said that the officials from different departments also remained available as soon as the van showed up in a particular village.
“People in many remote areas frequently lack technical skills, making it difficult for them to take advantage of numerous online programmes,” Chaudhary said.
He said that the delivery of online service at their doorsteps enabled them to have access to various government schemes and programmes.